Not an expert buy couldn`t find a solution... Would you be able to get a 4 bedrooms leaving bathroom and kitchen untouched?
What style of house is it? And how many steps down to the billiard room and laundry? Why no windows in the billiard room? Just trying to get a feel for style, age and look of the house. Will it be a rental or a PPOR?
Standard brick modern queenslander. Just trying to see if there is any room of improvement. 4 steps as per drawing. Rental. Not easy isn`t? Those sleepouts are the killers The biliard room is a sort of alfresco close with bricks, I guess home made extension, probably not legal
I wrote Queenslander and then removed it because I thought it might be a Melbourne house. But what is a "modern brick Queenslander"? So you are living in Melbourne and would be renovating from there? Obvious option is to take part of the sleep out but that means the bedroom French doors must stay closed, and the middle bedroom loses ventilation and light. Then you also take part of the billiard room, but it sounds like you'd need to actually "build" it if it is alfresco now. Are you wanting four bedrooms to get more rent? If so, you'll need a second bathroom and second living room to really appeal to those looking for four bedrooms. We found that when we make a fourth bedroom in a Queenslander and didn't have the second bathroom or second living area. Even though we had a full width four metre deep deck, it still didn't appeal to the applicants who showed clear disappointment when they saw our "four bedroom" house.
Also, why don't you want the kitchen and bathroom changed? Are they in good condition. The kitchen stuck in the middle certainly could be better placed.
That's a shocker. I've never seen so much wasted unuseable space but the only way to fix it means $$$. I'm guessing the billiards is like an enclosed verandah and probably can't be used as bedrooms?? It's a no from me. Even the lounge is poor dimensions being only 3.5m wide. The closest answer I could come up with is combine current 2 bedrooms into lounge/dining and make entry into that. Then you could put 2 bedrooms in the current lounge area and somehow cram 2 bedrooms into the sleep out area. Wouldn't be pretty but would maybe work
Yep, exactly what you said. Based in Melbourne but looking in Brisbane. It is already a sort of no for me however I was looking to see if there was a way to improve the layout without spending much money but found very hard hence the post. Trying to add value and increase rent. Good point on second bathroom and living. Just minimise the cost Typical in QLD on those old fellas. Thanks for the feedback.
Looks to me that the whole billiard/toilet back bit has been tacked on later. Hard to see how it can be reconfigured without significant expense.
Ok, thanks everyone. What`s about this one. Complete freedom on this one, however it will be not a flip, just trying to improve the value, rent and hold for the long time. Old Queenslander.
What sort of rent would it bring "as is"? I'm not a fan of that bedroom sitting in the middle of what would be a lovely big living area, but of course, you need it as a bedroom. Is it a timber Queenslander? It doesn't look right. Perhaps it is a post war?
Hi Luca! Maybe you can reconfigure the bathroom so that the back door and stairs go where they would have originally, past the kitchen. I'm presuming they used to be where the laundry window is, near the centre of the house. Add a washing machine in the kitchen to share the sink. Then the house becomes three bedrooms. If you are going to deal with doors and stairs, put in a back deck at the same time. A smallish kitchen/living room is OK in Qld because the outdoor area will compensate for it. What suburb?
Such an extensive renovation will be costly, and that layout is impractical, back door through a proposed bedroom and bathroom disconnected from bedrooms? You may be better to knock down and rebuild.
When you say Queenslander, (and I'm not trying to be cheeky here), but do you mean a "Queenslander" or do you mean "post war". Those plans don't really look like Queenslanders to me. I know some people not from Queensland call post war houses Queenslanders. And because they are so very different in looks and layout, it is important to differentiate between them. You can easily modernise a post war house. But messing about with a Queenslander will possibly destroy the very soul of the building. Mess with a Queenslander and you will make it hard to sell down the track. People wanting Queenslanders want just that. When they are renovated, you need to stay true to the style or risk losing a big portion of potential buyers. You can remove walls, relocate kitchen to an open area, but once you change too much, the house loses its appeal. Adding a modern extension to the back works. But don't change the facade. I know of two Queenslanders in my street that have been difficult to sell over the past 30 years that I've known them, purely because people have changed the internal layout so much that they don't appeal to people wanting a Queenslander, and they don't appeal to people wanting a more modern house. It can be a big mistake. Your mud maps make me wonder if these actually are post war houses because they don't seem to look (to me) like Queenslanders in layout. It will make a huge difference to what you can do without ruining the layout for those wanting the genuine thing. With a post war style house you can get away with so much more. Small basic Queenslander Small Queenslander cottage style Post war Post war Here is a stunning transformation of a post war with a double story extension added. It shows what can be done by keeping the street facade but transforming what is behind. I suspect some buyers won't want the post war facade but it's a nice mix of old and new. Here is the listing, a feast for the eyes. I went with my son, and fell in love with this house. 24 Pelham Street, Coorparoo, Qld 4151 And this is another local house (photo shows part way through the work) where someone has taken a post war house, lifted, built under and modernised the exterior. This has added value, and looks very nice finished, but to do this to a Queenslander would see you lose value IMO.
Definitely a post war, sorry about my ignorance These are properties where you can only do a cosmetic reno 10/15k max, more than that is not worth. Definitely need to find something else ;-) @wylie great examples thanks @Angel thanks for the feedback @Marg4000 agree
I'm pretty ignorant of styles in different cities so it's not a problem. To be honest, post war houses are sought after in my area because they can be knocked down for new builds or drastically renovated with much more flexibility in my opinion. Queenslanders must remain (generally).
